Hmm -- their friends are opting out!

After she led health care reform, many in Pelosi's district want out

What do we have in Washington -- a president and Congress, or a politburo?

The Democratic establishment in control of the executive branch and Senate are handing out waivers to the new health care law like candy -- in many cases to organizations that enjoy the Democrats' favor.

Consider: Unions have been among the leaders in seeking and receiving permission to opt out of "Obamacare" -- and in April, a whopping 20 percent of the waivers were granted to entities in the district of former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, one of the chief proponents of the law.

Funny thing, how "need" happens in such geographic clusters!

The Daily Caller website's Matthew Boyle notes that it isn't just the number of waivers in Pelosi's district that might raise eyebrows, but also the source of the waiver requests.

"Pelosi's district's waivers are the first major examples of luxurious, gourmet restaurants and hotels getting a year-long pass from Obamacare," Boyle reports.

It's interesting that so many who are fortunate enough to live under the liberal blanket of protection that Ms. Pelosi affords them would seek shelter from a law she is largely responsible for.

The federal government shouldn't be picking and choosing winners and losers -- those who must abide by federal law and those who are above it.

You have to wonder: With much of the Democratic base seeking to exempt itself from the law it's trying to impose on the rest of us, could it be that the law is even more onerous and burdensome than first thought?

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Democratic Congressmen are going to have to open new offices to handle all the applications for exemptions from Obama care since the Democrats are the only ones who can get waivers approved. That gives them a new campaign carrot. Vote for us and we can get you exempted from our health care law.

Billy sure could save a lot of money by eliminating the editorial staff positions and just have a feed from Faux and other sites from the right wing web. They don't go to the trouble of fact checking either. Debunked way before it hits the AC:

"House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had no influence on the healthcare waivers granted last month to a long list of businesses in her district, according to the company that managed the applications.
Republican leaders on and off Capitol Hill had slammed the Obama administration for granting a growing number of healthcare reform waivers to constituents of the top House Democrat, suggesting they received special treatment.
But Hilarie Aitken, co-owner of Flex-Plan Services, Inc., which filed the waiver applications on behalf of dozens of businesses, said that’s simply not the case.
“It had nothing to do with Nancy Pelosi,” Aitken told The Hill, “and it's really unfortunate that this has turned into such a political story.
“I usually vote Republican,” Aitken added, “and I'm a little bit ashamed at where the Republicans have taken this.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Jim Aitken, another co-owner of Flex-Plan Services, told The Hill that the company had never filed any waiver applications to the Department of Health and Human Services. Hilarie Aitken, his niece, corrected the story later in the day.
Steve Larsen, director of the department’s Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, also said Pelosi had no influence in the decision and that the San Francisco businesses were given no special treatment.
“These temporary waivers are necessary to help ensure that the waiters, dishwashers, maids, home health aides, and other hardworking people can keep the health coverage they have, while we transition to 2014, when they will have access to affordable coverage in a competitive marketplace,” Larsen told The Hill in an email.
“HHS applied the same standard to the application from Flex Plan Services that it uses when reviewing any application for a temporary waiver."
The statements from Aitken and HHS follow a Tuesday report in the Daily Caller, a right-leaning news website, indicating that HHS approved 204 new waivers in April, with 38 of those – or roughly 19 percent – going to businesses located in Pelosi’s San Francisco district.
Republicans – including House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and former-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin – were quick to pounce, suggesting that Pelosi’s constituents were given special treatment.
“It looks like ObamaCare’s backroom sweetheart deals didn’t end when it became law,” Boehner spokesman Michael Steel told the Daily Caller.
Palin weighed in as well, accusing the Obama administration of corruption for granting the waivers to constituents of a key Democratic ally.
“Seriously, this is corrupt,” Palin told the Daily Caller. “And anyone who still supports the Pelosi-Reid-Obama agenda of centralized government takeovers of the free market and the corresponding crony capitalism is, in my book, complicit.”
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) plans to use the waiver controversy to attack Democratic supporters of healthcare reform on the 2012 campaign trail.
Republicans played up the news of businesses in Pelosi’s district asking for exemptions to parts of the new healthcare law.
“Remember when former Speaker Pelosi said we needed to pass the ObamaCare bill to find out what was in it?” Steel told The Hill in an email. “I guess once they found out, the high-end eateries and spas in her Congressional District weren’t big fans.”
Pelosi’s office also said they had nothing to do with the waivers, and Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami accused the Republicans of exaggerating the story to win political points.
“It is pathetic that there are those who would be cheering for Americans to lose their minimum health coverage or see their premiums increase for political purposes,” Elshami said in an email. “The complaints coming from this crowd that supports ending Medicare is just another example of putting politics first.”
The Democrats’ new healthcare law prevents health insurers from capping annual benefits, beginning in 2014. The provision is being phased in, with minimum benefits set at $750,000 for 2011.
The one-year waivers are designed to prevent significant premium increases or an erosion of coverage. Businesses that apply for the waivers are saying they would either have to pass the costs of the premiums on to their customers or drop coverage.
HHS had approved 1,372 waivers – more than 90 percent of the applications – at the start of May."http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/161673...http://factcheck.org/2010/12/health-care-law-waivers/http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/05/pelosi-district-health-care-waivers

techfan **so you are saying that lobbyist are a waste of money if congressmen and congresswomen have no influence especially leadership of the giveaway party.. and for every story you qoute i will raise you 2--and not from mother jones etc...its simple if it was such a wonderful plan congress would not be exempt, unions and a lot of supporters of the bill would not file for waivers..to think differently and try to defend that fiascal of a bill is naive.

1. Nowhere does it say they lobbied. They filed for the waivers.
2. If you read the links (I know right wingers can't stand factcheck since it exposes their lies), you'll see that all waivers are temporary until full implementation of the health care act.
3. Congress is not exempt. http://www.factcheck.org/2010/01/congress-exempt-from-health-bill/

Oh no, FauxNews is spreading rumors based on tidbits of real news! Then, the ACES runs with it to rile up the base! Oh my goodness, they talk about Obama spreading socialism, while they spread propaganda! I'm so glad, I'm not on either side. I hope you all sleep well at night, I know I do!!!

"House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had no influence on the healthcare waivers granted last month to a long list of businesses in her district, according to the company that managed the applications.’
Hey Techfan, I have some ocean front property in AZ for sale and later on I might have the Brooklyn bridge for sale.
Yeah right, what a joke

wonder, 'How about a really good laugh?..'
‘Obama can’t stand Britain (his wife likes us even less): he made that clear enough when he sent back Winston Churchill’s bust and dissed our Prime Minister with those dodgy DVDS. He blames us for what happened to his grandfather during Mau Mau.’
That is so very true I read the community organizer’s book.

Lets also examine a few more facts.
1. Many waivers were granted right before mid-term elections......surprise!
2. Why grant waivers to the greatest political program invented since sliced bread?
3. What does federalizing student loans have to do with obamacare (part of the bill)
4. Are you ready to leave the United States and get treatment in Costa Rica, Mexico or Panama once 2014 arrives? Most of our great doctors & surgeons will be living there by then.
5. How many states are now suing the Federal Govt over obamacare? I believe it is up to 27 states. 54% of them.

But the good news is that we won't have any more evil doctors cutting off childrens toes or removing the tonsils just for money. Instead we'll have a huge bureaucracy that will cost taxapayers untold billions of dollars and possibly their life as they sit around waiting for care.

"1. Many waivers were granted right before mid-term elections......surprise!" PPACA was signed into law March 30, 2010. Dec.1, 2010 was the final day to apply for waivers for 2011. Amazingly waivers were granted between this time frame. You can see when applications were made and when the request was granted. You'll see you are wrong and that the vast majority were granted after election day due to the impending deadline.http://www.hhs.gov/ociio/regulations/approved_applications_for_waiver.html

No one said ALL or the Vast Majority. I said MANY techfan. Don't read between the lines. And look at how many applied right before the election. Geeze. It's like a freak show lineup at the Democrat National Convention.

Vote for Hope & Change and THIS is what you get. Favors for friends. Screw the rest of you peons.

Bottom line. The very losers who put obama in office now get exemptions from the worst plan in U.S. history. "Waivers for Favors"

Chillen. I looked at the list and didn't see a column title UNION. The number of workers would indicate a large amount of small businesses. I am sure you know what constitutes a classification of small business, so how did you state a large number of corporations were approved? For all you may want to look beyond the numbers and discover why waivers were allowed, especially for states. Its all there, just read it. Did any companys in Augusta ask for waivers? I guess every company here has a comprehensive health plan for the workers and the owners that is the same and all employees are just totally satisfied with their coverage. Thats probably why we didn't make the list.

bulldog. Tell the rest of the story. The bust was on loan from England. When the bust was removed it was replaced by a bust of Abraham Lincoln. I am not sure of your feelings, but I prefer an image of Lincoln for the President to gaze upon when he is facing troubling times.

Madgerman, I'll comment. First off, if there is any welfare involved, it's the oil companies giving to the government to the tune of billions of dollars in taxes. They are not being given anything. They are allowed, encouraged really, to use some of their profits without paying taxes on them for things such as alternative energy and exploration.

The companies could do very well collecting their profits and paying taxes on existing practices, but the government has deemed it beneficial to the country if they channel funds into research and exploration. It's like drug companies not paying taxes on money they spend in research for new drugs that may cure cancer. Understand now?

madgeman, ‘bulldog. Tell the rest of the story.’
Read his book and you will see the ‘rest of the story’. He blames England for what happened to his grandfather. Hussein gave the queen a ipod with all his speeches on it, I sure she threw it in the trash.

Right now we could cut hundreds of millions of dollars a year from Medicare costs - save a trillion dollars in wasted taxpayer spending over the last decade, and ANOTHER trillion for the decade ahead - by letting Medicare negotiate with suppliers and drug companies for lower prices.

Every time Democrats propose it, Republican­s VOTE IT DOWN. To protect profits to corporatio­ns, and higher costs for American taxpayers. Then they propose CUTTING BENEFITS to taxpayers to make up the losses they created.

Jesus, currently private insurance companies do negotiate with the drug companies for the lowest possible price. Giving Medicare the power to negotiate prices with all its power would mean those with private insurance would end up paying more.

Realize Medicare currently tells the drug companies what it will pay. MEDICARE SETS THE PRICE BASED ON WHAT IS PAID IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR. If a company won't take what Medicare sets as the price, they don't get the sale.

Suppose Medicare could negotiate directly with the drug companies. Then the going price paid by private insurers will match what Medicare can negotiate. We know private insurance is going to cut the best bargain they can with drug companies because the profit motive is there. Let government get involved negotiating and watch prices soar. There is no magic cure.